Unfortunately, they appear to be a little more than half of the current voters...

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Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.

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Ok, everyone who votes receives a lottery ticket (put one of those machines at the exit door of the polling place), vote by mail folks get a voucher to go to their local supermarket machine. One month after the election the numbers are drawn. A pot of a million or two would draw enough interest. Cheap to administer (except the return mailing to vote by mail folks will cost a couple bucks), fun and likely to attain result desired.

Sounds like a horrible idea to me. The fewer voters the better. I will always vote, and I figure people like me with a stake will also always vote. Who cares if crack-heads, schizophrenics and people with IQ of 75 donít vote?

Ha

No these are the ones that are currently voting today. - That's why we have the government we do!

Mikey, are you sure no one has highjacked your moniker in the last few days?

I'm fine with low voter turnout, provided there's no impediment to folks exercising their right to vote. I'd rather not have disinterested folks (or ones who won't take the time to understand the issues) voting. If you DO understand and care about the issues/candidates, how could you choose NOT to vote?

I'm fine with low voter turnout, provided there's no impediment to folks exercising their right to vote. I'd rather not have disinterested folks (or ones who won't take the time to understand the issues) voting. If you DO understand and care about the issues/candidates, how could you choose NOT to vote?

Well, if you are happy with the Senate debating the 'Gay Marriage Amendment' last week, when everyone in the nation knew that it would go nowhere (including the participants), then you are getting the government that serves you.

It's the folks in the middle that claim that they don't like the candidates of either party, that I'm speaking to. Mostly because they are not talking about issues that are important to them. Many are on this forum and claim allegience to neither major party. They won't be disinterested voters, when the politicans know they have to vote! - That is the point!

I think the solution of mandatory voting has value. Just like jury duty and a military draft.

Well, if you are happy with the Senate debating the 'Gay Marriage Amendment' last week, when everyone in the nation knew that it would go nowhere (including the participants), then you are getting the government that serves you.

I get it. But having politicians debating pointless issues for long periods which result in no action is FAR from the most dangerous thing they could be doing. Every minute they are doing that is a minute they aren't raising taxes, restricting somebody's freedom, or producing dumb top-down solutions. The problem isn't that they are debating dumb things--the problem is that they aren't addressing important things. I don't see how forcing people to vote will make politicians address important things. If people recognized the importance of these issues, the politicans would already be addressing them. If people continue to not recognize important issues, then when forced to go to the polls they'll continue to vote for the name that pushed their hot buttons the hardest.

An apathetic ignoramous forced to go to the polls is still an apathetic ignoramous.

I get it. But having politicians debating pointless issues for long periods which result in no action is FAR from the most dangerous thing they could be doing. Every minute they are doing that is a minute they aren't raising taxes, restricting somebody's freedom, or producing dumb top-down solutions. The problem isn't that they are debating dumb things--the problem is that they aren't addressing important things. I don't see how forcing people to vote will make politicians address important things. If people recognized the importance of these issues, the politicans would already be addressing them. If people continue to not recognize important issues, then when forced to go to the polls they'll continue to vote for the name that pushed their hot buttons the hardest.

An apathetic ignoramous forced to go to the polls is still an apathetic ignoramous.

"We have met the enemy and he is us"
- Pogo

I think.

That is the point! - It turns the system around. Politicians will be forced to address the apathy. The politicians that can change the apathy into action will get elected.

The politicians will no longer be talking to 'their base' - which is the extreme - they will have to address the apathy.

I prefer that decisions about who runs the world be made by people who have at least some clue what the issues are, not those who are voting because of positive or negative short term incentives, and not those who are swayed by emotion to the exclusion of reason.

How about this, as long as we are engaged in fantasy: contenders agree on a dozen questions that are fundamental to the differences in their positions, with each providing a short description of their position.

Treat it like a wine tasting. The positions aren't displayed next to the candidates' names -- people vote on whichever answer best matches their views. The winner is the one whose views are selected by most voters. Forget one person one vote-- this is one person 12 votes.

Those who watch the campaign will know whose positions are whose. Those who don't can select from the positions articulated on the ballot and vote accordingly.

Obviously this is a fantasy. I don't believe that many politicians are even psychologically capable of stating their positions in a way intended to inform rather than calculated to persuade "the masses".

__________________Often uninformed, seldom undecided.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Mark Twain

You would need the escape clause option "I wanna vote for the movie star that I like!"

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Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.

You mean a questionnaire something like this?* This was designed by GOP local officials for prospective candidates for Tom DeLay's seat.* A quick gander at the choice of questions is dismaying.* It just reinforces the belief that coast-hugging blue staters are from Mars, Texans are from Venus.*

Ain't no in-between.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dory36

How about this, as long as we are engaged in fantasy: contenders agree on a dozen questions that are fundamental to the differences in their positions, with each providing a short description of their position.

Anytime you vote you are selecting the lesser of two (three/four) evils.* You can only select the person/party that you believe comes closest to your beliefs.* That being said, it is embarrasing how few Americans vote.*

I think that the recent winner of American Idol got more votes that any president. Nobody mandated that voting; they wanted to, they were interested.* Perhaps we should make voting easier.* The Idol voters didn't have to go somewhere to register.* They voted by phone or online.* Modern technology makes voting very easy and it should be used.* IMHO, the pols don't want more voters.

Recent elections have been very close. The deciding votes were probably made by people who were "undecided" (i.e., uninformed) a few days before the elections.

Thus, we decide who runs things based on which candidate/party can cajole or scare the most unmotivated, uninformed, and apathetic <1% of the population to actually vote.

Several posts refer to getting additional voters from that pool of people who aren't sufficiently motivated to even mail in a ballot or drive to a voting place.

Is there any reason to believe that these additional voters will result in a better decision for the country?

Or will their inclusion just make politicians even more inclined to appeal to the emotional rather than to logic and reason?

__________________Often uninformed, seldom undecided.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Mark Twain

American idol also lets you vote more than once...and frequently people get voted in/out because 82 people in someones home town voted 32,000 times

__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Mark Twain

I'm pretty sure all 82 people were alive and actually lived where they said they did

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__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.

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